There are many applications where a driver or pilot steers a vehicle down an original course that may need to be repeated later. For example, a street sweeper may be steered for a first time on an optimal course around a large parking lot. It would be advantageous to be able to automatically repeat that course to perform regular cleanings thereafter. Similarly, in a security application, a mine laying device may be manually steered over a course planting mines. It would be advantageous to be able to automatically and reliably travel the same path later with a mine clearing vehicle to ensure removal or destruction of the earlier planted mines.
Further, satellite and other broadcast navigation signals, as well as techniques for their processing, have greatly improved in recent years. Such navigation signals and processing now offer degrees of accuracy in position information sufficient to be used in automated vehicle navigation as suggested above. What are needed in the art are apparatus and methods for the efficient use and processing of desired path and position information to facilitate automated navigation along a desired path or trajectory.